Last night I finally finished the last stripe on the Neat Ripple blanket. There were so many ends to weave in that I thought it would take me all day but it actually went very quickly. A few ends before I went out with Tai Chi Man to the farmers and crafters market, and the rest when I arrived home, having stocked up on fresh produce for tonight’s dinner and recharged with the most amazing raspberry matcha latte and Mexican chocolate cookie at Chai Baba.

So, just the border to go. It’s a narrow one, only three rounds I think, and I’ll probably just do it all in turquoise. And then my little teddy can have his photo shoot with his matching blankie.

Linkies: Neat Ripple know-how (border and notes)

Neat Ripple Pattern

I am so glad that this is nearly done. The Demelza blanket, (link will take you to the Ravelry project page as it’s a free Ravelry download) which I will be starting September 1st with a bunch of other Crochet-along-ers in the Colourful KALs/CALs group on Ravelry, looks quite challenging and I didn’t want other WIPs nagging me from their bag in the corner while crocheting Demelza!

Of course the Peacock Tail Bag will overlap Demelza somewhat during September.

Anyone is welcome in the Colourful group – Ravelry is free to join if you haven’t discovered its wonders already. And it’s such a friendly chatty group with frequent posts – important for a successful interesting group, I think.

One more recommendation while thinking about crochet and Ravelry…I am actually watching a podcast (and the latest episode featured a bit of free advertising for Ravelry and its features). I have tried various podcasts over and over again but find different aspects of them offputting for whatever reason, but I like this one: Crafternoon Treats. Kathryn is an experienced crocheter living in Yorkshire, England, relatively new knitter, new spinner, new dyer, and she talks about what she’s making, her adventures in playing with yarn and colour, and other stuff. She’s one of Stylecraft’s new Blogstars too. This is a group of bloggers, most but not all of whom are in the UK, who have been chosen by Stylecraft to get sneak peeks of new yarns, offer their own designs with the yarn, offer giveaways, etc. If you haven’t tried Stylecraft yet, it’s worth it – their yarn is good quality and reasonably priced. I order mine from Deramores but you can also get it internationally from Wool Warehouse in the UK.

She is on Facebook as Crafternoon Treats and Bagalong with Crafternoon Treats, and has her own group on Ravelry. The latter has not been particular active so far but I got the impression that she was thinking of making it more of a priority in future.

Well, enough waffling. It’s a beautiful day, and even though I feel like I made the most of my morning, there is still the afternoon to enjoy. Such a link-heavy post! I hope you check out some of them.